Millennium fever grips Ethiopia at last

DANIEL HAILU promised to marry his girlfriend after the
millennium. And now she eagerly awaits the arrival of her wedding
ring. "She is so relieved that 1999 is nearly over," said Mr Hailu,
a 29-year-old TV salesman.

Mr Hailu is not living in a time warp, rather in Ethiopia where,
thanks to a quirk of history, the country's calendar lags more than
seven years behind the Western version. Only last night, after
years of anticipation and months of frenzied preparation, was the
year 2000 due finally be ushered in.

A huge celebration was planned. In the capital, Addis Ababa,
searchlights carved swords of silver in the sky. A brand-new $12
million convention hall was built near the airport by a billionaire
construction magnate.

There, in front of 20,000 people, US hip-hop stars the Black
Eyed Peas were due to headline a concert to be broadcast on giant
screens across the country, kicking off a year of celebrations.
Beyonce, the US pop diva, is scheduled to perform in October.

Organisers hoped that the festivities will help project a new
image of Ethiopia abroad, replacing the stereotypical view of a
country plagued by hunger, conflict and poverty. For Ethiopians, it
is an opportunity to forget their worries and look to a better
future, according to Seyoum Bereded, the head of the millennium
organising committee.

"This is like a birthday," said Mr Bereded, who until last year
worked in IT in London. "And on your birthday you don't talk about
the appendix operation you had a few months ago."

Although many Ethiopians are equally comfortable using the
Western dateline, there is little doubting their pride in
maintaining their own calendar. Alongside Ethiopia's status as the
cradle of humankind and its record as the only African country
successfully to resist colonisation, the faith-based calendar
reinforces the feeling that, while they are African, they are also
unique.

Organisers stress that the costs of staging the event are being
borne by Sheik Mohammed al-Amoudi, the Ethiopian-born tycoon and
one of the 100 richest men in the world. The Sheraton Hotel he owns
was responsible for the huge fireworks display at midnight.